About Us

Former editor William Young was the face of Lititz news gathering when he published the Record Express during the 1940s and ’50s.

Lititz’s Community Newspaper Since 1877

While several short-lived monthly publications pre-date the Record-Express, Lititz’s first official weekly newspaper was established on Sept. 14, 1877. On that date, the Litiz Record, owned and operated by John F. Buch, was born.

Four years later, The Weekly Express, originally a monthly pub called The Sunbeam, made its debut under the leadership of renowned prohibitionist and bicycle salesman John Zook. He later published one of Lititz’s most cherished history books, “Historical and Pictorial Lititz,” in 1905.

During the earliest days of the Lititz weekly, the original spelling of Lititz was used in the banner (Litiz). In 1880, the current spelling was installed by order of the U.S. Postmaster General, who preferred the English

The old Express building at 22 E. Main St. (rear).

spelling and pronunciation.

The original publishers/editors, Buch and Zook, ran these newspapers for several decades. Shortly after new ownership took over, the two competing weeklies merged into the Lititz Record-Express in 1937.

Young was the face of Lititz news gathering when he published the Record Express during the 1940s and ’50s.

The last independent owner of the paper was Robert Campbell, who published the Lititz weekly from 1962 to 1987. The paper is now a key publication with Lancaster County Weeklies, part of Steinman Enterprises, which also operates Lancaster’s city paper.

The original subscription rate for the Litiz Record was $1.50 per annum. Well over a century later, it remains a very affordable $25 per year. It’s also available at newsstands throughout the Lititz and Manheim area for a mere 50-cents per copy.

In its long history, Lititz’s weekly newspaper has covered the assassination of President Garfield, the death of General John Augustus Sutter, the Agnes Flood of ’72, and noteworthy visits by Teddy Roosevelt III, Wilt Chamberlain and Muhammad Ali. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg; oh, by the way, both the Record and the Express reported the sinking of the Titanic in April of 1912.

Happy reading!

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